JOIN USStartup founder’s viral tweet attracts job seekers
Fintech startup founder Udita Pal’s Twitter blew up last week after she posted a chat with her father about a matrimonial match. The 26-year-old offered a job to that match, since he has seven years of experience in fintech.
Most of the Twitterati took it in good humour. Matrimonial sites would soon replace job sites, it is a “boss” move, it is “typical of Bengaluru” — they interpreted her action. Only about 1% of people panned her move as “arrogant”.
Did she extend the job offer in jest? “His bio mentioned he was working a corporate job and was looking to move to an early-stage startup, where he could pick up more responsibilities. We were talking and for a brief moment, I forgot it was a matrimonial site and offered him a job,” she recalls.
She got a sense that he was looking for an offer of around Rs 55 lakh, something her company could afford. “I sent my phone and calendar details to him to schedule an interview and asked him to send his resume. I forgot the site’s credentials were shared with my father, and every time this man was messaging me, my father was getting a notification,” she continues.
Her father messaged her and she replied. The exchange was “naïve and cute at the same time”, and worth posting on social media. “I posted it and went back to work. A few hours later, a friend told me my post had gone viral,” she says.
What’s happening now?
After the tweet went viral, around 300 men and women have sent requests for hiring. “I have around 15 interviews scheduled,” she says.
Many have asked her since how she would react if the roles were reversed.
“Money is the ultimate goal. If I’m on a matrimonial site and someone offered me a good job, I would have taken it up. Once, I met an investor on a similar platform and was asked to send a pitch over. At no point was I uncomfortable,” she says.
Some requests crossed the line, with men sending profane pictures to her. “I will file an FIR against these people in one go,” she says.